Air gun



O United States Patent [1113,540,426

[72] Inventors Raymond J. Lohr 3,022,779 2/1962 Benkoe 124/13 Eri 3,345,977 10/1967 Hall l24/ll Robert F. Hauck, McKean and Mahlon E. 6 3 10/1932 Mueller /l3 Hirsch, Falrview, Pennsylvania 3,397,476 8/1968 'Weber 124/11 [211 1 1 626.606 FOREIGN PATENTS [221 PM 28,1967 80,686 9/1952 Norway 273/1065 [451 W WV-17,1970 918,278 10/1946 l' rance 124/15 [731 Asslgnee Mm 1,205,866 11/1965 Germany.. 124/15 New YM'NW 587,779 3/1957 Italy 124/11 a. corporation of New York A Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Richard W. Diaz [54] AIR GUN Attorney- Blum, Moscovitz, Friedman, Blum and Kaplan 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 124/15,

124/483 273/1065: 24/30 ABSTRACT: An air gun having a barrel provided with an [51] Int. Cl. F4lb 11/02 inner Smooth surface f a low ffi i t f f i ti For [50] Field olSearch 124/1 1, l3, ample the barrel can be provided with an inner f 48 polyethylene having a highly polished inner surface. The pro- References Cited jectile is of an elongated configuration and has a rear end I which slidably engages the smooth inner surface of the barrel. UNITED STATES PATENTS The air supply being provided by a spring-expanded bellows 2,802,298 8/1957 Larin 124/30 which is compressed by a spring-loaded piston. This projectile 2,818,056 1211957 Martin 124/11 is made ofa plastic such as a suitable vinyl and it tapers from 2,922,412 1/1960 Hoshoch 124/48 its rear toward its front end which carries a suction cup, and it 2,982,550 5/1961 Francis..... 124/13 has a hollow interior communicating through a rear opening 3,009.453 l 1/1961 Ayala 124/48 with the interior of the barrel.

Patented N631.

Sheet HVVENTURS RAYMOND J.LOHR

ROBERT F.HAUCK MAHLON EJHRSCH zap, yawn? 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 17, 1970 Sheet of 5 m M m m RAYMOND J. LOHR ROBERT F HAUCK MAHLON E. HIRSCH AIR GUN The invention relates to air guns and projectiles therefor.

In particular, the invention relates to a dart-type of gun used for propelling by air a projectile which acts similarly to a manually thrown dart. The projectile is of course directed toward a given target. Instead of having a sharp, pointed front end, the projectile can terminate at its front end in a suction cup which will cause the projectile to stick at the target.

With structures of thistype problems are encountered in reliably guiding the projectile through the barrel. Because of the lack of reliable guiding of the projectile in the barrel with conventional constructions, the projectile takes, with these conventional constructions, a haphazard trajectory, making it difficult for the operator to direct the projectile reliably to the center of the target even thoughthe gun is operated properly. Furthermore, because an unpredictable amount of energy is consumed in overcoming the friction forces encountered in the barrel, the remaining energy which is available to propel the projectile is-unpredictable and the projectile does not always reach the target with a force sufficient to make the projectile stick to the target.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention the barrel has an inner smooth surface of a low coefficient'of friction, and a means which is situated to the rear of the barrel coacts therewith for directing therethrough air for propelling a projectile through the barrel toward a given target. The projectile is dimensioned to be received in the barrel and is of an elongated configuration having a front end directed toward the target and a rear end which slidably engages the inner surface of the barrel so that the air directed into the interior thereof will propel the projectile through and out of the barrel toward the target.

Thus, it. is a primary object of the present invention to provide an air gun of the above type capable of smoothly and reliably guiding a projectile through the barrel.

Another object of the invention is to providea construction which will produce very little frictional resistance to movement of the projectile through the barrel while at the same time assuring a precise sliding fit of the projectile in the barrel.

Furthermore, it is an object of the invention to provide a projectile which when propelled with the gun of the invention will reliably stick to the target.

In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a construction of the above type which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture without sacrificing any of the qualities such as the precision fit of the projectile in the barrel and the smooth, low friction guiding of the projectile through the barrel.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

' BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a fuller understanding ofthe invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a top plan view of an air gun according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the gun of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. I in the direction of the arrows and showing in phantom lines how the gun is cocked and how a projectile is introduced into the gun;

FIG. 3 shows, at a scale which is enlarged as compared to FIG. 2, that part of the structure of FIG. 2 where the rear end of the barrel is situated;

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment ofa projectile in longitudinal sectional elevation, the plane of FIG. 4 containing the central axis of the projectile;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of another embodiment of a projectile according to the invention, the plane of FIG. 5 also containing the axis of the projectile;

FIG. 6is a transverse section of the gun of FIG. 3, taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a transverse section of the gun of FIG, 3 taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrow;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional elevation showing an embodiment of the invention which has a revolver assembly carrying a plurality of barrels; and

FIG. 9 is a partly sectional plan view of the revolver actuating mechanism of FIG. 8, taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8 in the direction of the arrows.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the air gun 10 of the present invention which is illustrated therein includes an elongated hollow plastic body 12 of light weight forming the rear stock 14 and the tubular portion 16 which extends forwardly from the stock to the barrel 18. At its upper surface, the body 12 carries a turnable rear sight 20 capable of being turned by the operator upwardly from the horizontal, rest position thereof shown in FIG. 2 to a vertical operative position. This rear sight 20 coacts with a front sight 22 carried by the front Just beneath the pivotal mounting for the rear sight 20, the hollow body l2fixedly carries in its interior a circularmember 24 provided with an inner groove which receives the outer periphery of a guide disc 26 made ofa suitable plastic such as polyethylene and having a thickened central portion 28 provided with an axial bore in which a shaft 30 of a plunger as- .sembly 32 is guided. The insert 26 is self-lubricating so that the shaft 30 slides easily through the guide 26.

The plunger assembly 32 includes at the front end of the shaft 30 a plate 34 whose weight, together with the weight of the other components of the plunger assembly, give to the latter a predetermined inertia effect. The front end of the shaft 30 is enlarged and received in a shouldered recess formed in j the front surface of the plate 34, and a main spring 36 is coiled about the shaft 30 between the guide disc 26 and the plate 34 for maintaining the latter at the front end of the shaft and for urging the plunger assembly forwardly, to the right, as viewed in FIG. 2. The rear end of the shaft 30 fixedly carries a catch member 38. i

I This catch member 38 coacts with a sear 40 pivoted on a pin 42 carried by the body 12 and extending across its interior, and a spring 44 urges the sear 40 in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, about its supporting pivot pin 42. The front portion of this sear is thus urged upwardly against a lug 46 of a trigger 48 pivotally carried by the body 12 at a pivot pin 50 which is fixed to the body 12 and which extends through the trigger between the ends thereof, this pin 50 being situated just, above a slot 52 through which the trigger extends to the exterior of the body 12. The sear 40 is provided with a tooth 54 which engages the catch 38 to retain the plunger assembly 32 in its cocked position.

In order to cook the gun, a manually operable cocking mechanism 56 is provided. This mechanism includes a manually operable lever 58 turnably carried by the body 12 on I a pivot pin 60 which is fixed to the body 12 and which extends through an opening of the lever 58. The lever 58 extends through a slot 62 of the body 12 to the exterior of the latter. The top end of the lever 58 is pivotally connected to a link 64 which in turn is pivotally connected to a sleeve 66 which is slidable on the shaft 30. A spring 68 is connected at one end to the lever 58 and at its opposite end to a stationary lug in the interior of the body 12 so as to urge the lever 58 to its rest position, shown in solid lines in FIG. 2, where the rear end of the lever 58 engages the lower surface of the body 12.

In order to cock the gun the operator turns the lever 58 from the solid line position of FIG. 2 into the dot-dash line position. The result is that the spring 68 becomes tensioned and the sleeve 66 slides rearwardly along the shaft 30 until it engages the catch 38. Thereafter, during the continued turning of the lever 58, the shaft 30 is retracted with the sleeve 66, compressing the main spring 36. This operation is continued until the tooth 54 of the sear 40 snaps in front of the catch 38, and then the operator can return the lever 58 to its rest position shown in solid lines in FIG. 2. The plunger mechanism 32 is now in its cocked position shown in FIG. 2.

The above-described plunger mechanism and the structure for cocking and releasing the same forms part of a means for directing air through the barrel 18. This means includes a flex ible bellows 70 made of any suitable plastic, for example, and having a rear closed, end directed toward the plate 34 of the plunger assembly 32.

As may be seen from FIG. 3, the front open end of the bellows 70 surrounds and is fixed to the rear open end of a member 72 made of any suitable plastic and fixedly carried by an interior transverse wall 74 of the body 12, this wall 74 being most clearly shown in FIG. 6. A transverse wall 76 has at its left surface, as viewed in FIG. 3, a circular lip 78 which extends within and is fixed to the member 72, so that in this way the wall 76 is mounted in the body 12. This wall 76 is formed with an opening which receives a rubber ring 80 formed at its exterior with a groove which receives the peripheral portion of the wall 76 which defines the opening which receives the rubber ring 80. The front surface of the ring 80 is exposed during loading of the gun, in a manner described below. As may be seen from FIG. 6, the wall 74 is formed with a notch 82 which receives a rib 84 at the exterior of member 72, and this rib 84 is received between rearwardly directed pins 86 of the member 76, so that in this way the parts are properly located with respect to each other.

Situated in the interior of the bellows 70 is a light spring 88 which is considerably weaker than the main spring 36 and which serves only to hasten the expansion of the bellows 70.

With this construction, after the gun has the cocked position shown in FIG. 2, the operator can pull the trigger to release the shaft 30 to the force of the spring 36, so that the plate 34 is driven forwardly to compress the bellows to the condition thereofshown in FIG. 3. This action will result in expulsion of air from the interior of the bellows out through the rubber ring 80.

The barrel 18 is situated over and integrally formed with a mock or dummy barrel 90, so that the gun has the appearance of a double-barreled gun. A pivot pin 92 is fixedly carried by the body 12 at the region ofits front end, and this pivot pin 92 extends transversely through suitable bores at the rear portion of the dummy barrel 90, so that in this way the barrel 18 is supported for turning movement on the body 12. A wire spring 94 has a rear end pressing against the wall 74, is coiled in the interior of the dummy barrel 90 about the pin 92, and has a front end pressing against the inner upper surface of the dummy barrel 90, so that this spring 94 urges the barrel 18in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 3, about the pin 92 into the position shown in FIG. 3. In this position the axis of the barrel 18 coincides with the axis of the ring 80. It is to be noted that the rear end of the barrel 18 is beveled so as to terminate in a sharp edge 96 which is pressed against the front face of the rubber ring 80, so that in this way a tight closure is provided at the'rear end ofthe barrel 18.

In order to achieve a very easy slidability ofa projectile with correspondingly low friction in the interior of the barrel 18, the barrel is provided with an inner liner 98 made, for example of polyethylene and having an inner highly polished surface 100.

A projectile 102 is shown in FIG. 3 in the interior of the barrel 18. In order to load the projectile into the barrel, the barrel is turned in a clockwise direction about the pivot 92, as viewed in FIG. 3, in opposition to the spring 94, so that the barrel will now have the dot-dash line position indicated in FIG. 2. This movement will expose the open rear end of the valve so that the operator can introduce the projectile, as is also indicated in dot-dash lines in FIG. 2. With the projectile thus situated in the barrel, the operator need only release the barrel and the spring 94 will return it to the position shown in FIG. 3.

The details of the projectile 102 of the invention are shown in FIG. 4. This projectile 102 is made of a relatively soft plastic, such as a suitable vinyl plastic, and it is flexible. At its forward end 104 the projectile has the form of a forwardly directed suction cup. The projectile has a hollow interior 106 and a rear open end defined by a free rear edge portion 108 situated at the rear end of the projectile. The projectile tapers forwardly from its rear end 108 up to the rear of the suction cup 104. Thus, the hollow interior 106 extends all the way from the rear open end of the projectile up to the region of the suction cup 104 thereof.

When this projectile 102 is placed in the barrel, the rear edge 108 thereof slidably engages the highly polished inner surface of the valve 18. When the gun is fired, the bellows is compressed to direct air through the ring into the rear end of the barrel 18 and this air will not only enter into the barrel but in addition it will enter into the hollow interior 106 of the projectile guaranteeing that the relatively thin sharp free rear edge 108 thereof is maintained in slidable engagement with the inner surface of the barrel. Because of the high polish at this inner surface, it has a very low coefficient of friction and without any escape of air past the edge 108 along the exterior of the projectile, the entire force of the air is devoted to driving the projectile with low friction slidably along and out of the barrel toward a given target. With this construction the projectile is very precisely guided through the barrel so that if the gun is properly sighted on a given target the projectile will properly reach the target. In addition, the weight and configuration of the projectile in combination with the propelling force which acts thereon guarantees that the suction cup 104 will stick to the target.

It is also possible to use a projectile 110 having the construction shown in FIG. 5. This projectile is identical with that of FIG. 4 except that it carries in its interior, just to the rear of the suction cup 112 a weight 114 in the form of a metal' sphere, for example, which may be solid. Just to the rear of this sphere the projectile 110 is formed in its interior with a retaining lip 116 which serves to retain the sphere 114 in the position shown in FIG. 5. This added weight which is derived from the solid metal ball 114 can be used to enhance the operation and the flight of the projectile through the air.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate an embodiment of the invention which is provided with a plurality of barrels which may be successively used in a manner similar to a revolver. For this purpose the front end 120 of the body 124 which is otherwise identical with the body 12 is enlarged to the configuration shown at the right of FIG. 8. At its rear lower end this enlarged forward portion 120 has an opening 126 through which a projectile 102 can be introduced. A plurality of barrels 128 are carried by a pair of plates 130 which are turnable on a shaft 132 and which are also shiftable axially of this shaft. The shaft 132 is fixedly carried in the interior of the enlarged forward portion 120 of the body 124 in the manner shown in FIG. 8. A spring 134 surrounds the shaft 132 and is compressed between the front wall of the portion 120 and the front wall 130 so as to urge both walls rearwardly, and thus the rear end of each barrel which is in the uppermost position will be pressed against the ring 80, thus providing the gastight closure of the rear end of whichever barrel is in the firing position.

In order to index the several barrels successively to the firing position, the cocking lever 58 is connected to the rear end of an elongated rod 138 whose forward end is pivotally connected to an indexing lever 140 (FIG. 9), this latter lever having the configuration ofa bellcrank. A spring 142 is fixed at its rear end to a lug in the interior of the body 124, and this spring 142, which is stretchable, has its front end passing directly into a pivot pin 144 on which the lever 140 is pivoted. In this way the front end of the spring 142 is fixed to the lever 140. The

tionary plate 148 in the interior of the body 124, and this pin.

I44 carries a slide member 150 which slidably engages the plate 148 at the side thereof which is not visible in FIG. 9. In this way the lever 140, which slidably engages the face of the plate 148 which is visible in FIG. 9, can be guided for movement in the slot 146.

The rear plate 130 is formed with index openings 152 which successively coact with the indexing lever 140. In addition, there is fixed to the rear end ofthe shaft 132 a sleeve 154 having a front-toothed camming edge 156, and this camming edge 156 coacts with teeth 158 formed formed at the rear end of a sleeve 160 which is fixed to the rear plate 130 and through which the shaft 132 slidably extends.

With this construction, during cocking of the gun, the rod 138 is advanced forwardly so as initially to shift the pin 144 forwardly along the upper edge of the slot 146, as viewed in FIG. 9, thus locating the pin 144 at the front end of the slot 146 wherethe triangular configuration thereof has its front apex. The continued forward movement of the rod 138 at this time will cause the indexing lever 140 to swing in a clockwise direction so that the tip 162 thereofenters into an index opening I52, and during the continued turning of the indexing lever the pair of plates 130 are turned to index the next barrel into the firing position while the indexing lever advances to the dot-dash line position shown in FIG. 9. During this turning the teeth 158 ride along the camming edge 156 to advance the entire barrel assembly forwardly in opposition to the spring 136, thus displacing the uppermost barrel away from the ring 80. When the indexing lever has reached the dot-dash line position shown in FIG. 9, the next barrel is in position and the spring 136 returns the assembly to its rear location where the teeth 158 again enter into the gaps formed by the camming edge 156, and the uppermost barrel now again presses against the ring 80. At this time, because the spring 142 has been stretched, it tends to turn the lever 140 in a clockwise direction about the front end of the rod 138, so that when the latter is retracted the pin 144 rides downwardly along the lower inclined edge of the slot 146, so that the tip 162 is retracted from the opening 152 in which it is located, and when the rear end of the slot 146 is reached the spring 142 returns the indexing lever 140 to the position thereof shown in solid lines in FIG. 9. In this way whenever the gun is cocked the revolver mechanism is indexed to situate the next barrel in position, and the operator will now introduce another projectile into the lowermost barrel through the opening 126.

Each of the barrels 128 are provided with an inner liner of polyethylene having an inner highly polished surface, so that the above-discussed advantages of the invention are achieved with the embodiment of FIGS. 8 and 9.

It is thus to be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

We claim:

1. In an air gun, a barrel having a smooth inner surface of a low coefficient of friction, for slidably engaging a projectile, and means situated behind and communicating with said barrel for directing therethrough air for propelling a projectile from said barrel to a given target, so that when air is directed through said barrel by said means a projectile will be propelled through and out of the barrel with the projectile slidably engaging the inner surface of the barrel, said barrel including an outer wall and an inner line r which has said inner smooth surface of said barrel, said liner being made of polyethylene which is polished at its inner surface.

2. In an air gun, a barrel having a smooth inner surface of a low coefficient of friction, for slidably engaging a projectile, and means situated behind and communicating with said barrel for directing therethrough air for propelling a projectile from said barrel to a given target, so that when air is directed through said barrel by said means a projectile will be propelled through and out of the barrel with the projectile slidably engaging the inner surface of the barrel, said means including a bellows situated to the rear of and communicating with said barrel and a trigger-operated mechanism for compressing said bellows, said trigger-operated mechanism being in the form of a spring-loaded piston having a cocked position spaced from said bellows and trigger-operated to compress the same, and a spring in said bellows for expanding the same in preparation for compression by said trigger-operated mechanism, said bellows when expanded being spaced from said spring-loaded piston when the latter is in its cocked position. 

